Received June 9, 2017; Revised August 23, 2017; Accepted August 25, 2017.

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Abstract

Background: There are still few studies comparing the fatigue, anxiety and depression of the terminal cancer patients. Therefore, this study evaluates spouses according to age, sex, and type of primary cancer of a patient and confirms its meaning.Methods: We analyzed the effects of gender, type of primary cancer, and age on spouse's fatigue, anxiety and depression. From May 2014 to June 2016, 61 spouses who visited the hospice palliative care center of Korea University Guro Hospital for hospice consultation were enrolled.Results: The gender of the spouse was not correlated with fatigue, anxiety, and depression. In the analysis of age, as the age of the patient increased, the effect on work and life enjoyment due to spouse fatigue was small. Finally, the spousal anxiety level was significantly higher in patients with lung cancer.Conclusion: This study confirms that fatigue, anxiety, and depression degree of the spouse of terminal cancer patients are significantly correlated with the age of the patient and the type of primary cancer. We hope that the results of this study have been helpful in identifying the status of the spouse and further studies on other factors not covered in this study should be conducted.

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